Mechanism for presses.



F.'B. GROOVER.

MBGHANISM PoR PRESSES.

APPLICATION I'ILBD JAN.23, 1913.

Patented Jan. 20, 1914 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1. .Z3

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P. B. GROOVER.

MBCHANISM FOR PRESSES.

APPLIGATION FILED JAN. 2a, 191s.

Patented J an. 20, 1914.

fw @L 2 a FRASURE E. GBOOVEB, F LOS ANGELES, CALJYLFORNIA,

MEGHAm'sM ron PRESSES.

specification of Letters raten't.

Patented Jan. 20, 1914.

Application filed January 23, 1913. Serial No. "74:3,841

To all 'whom t may concern.:

Be it known that L-FRAsURE E. GRoovEn,

.a citizen of the\United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of, Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and. useful Mechanism for Presses, of

-` which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to presses for bail- Iing hay, cotton, c orn, etc., and is characterized .both by novel feeding means whereby the-hay, or other produce, is fed into the receiving chamber, and also by novel means whereby the blocks, slipped between successive bales, may be automatically brought into position without interruption of the pressing operation.

An object of this invention is to provide Y a .feeder which shall be eiiicient in operation and rugged in construction, whereby the hay, or other produce, may be evenly fed and distributed over. the bottom of the re-` ceiving chamber, and whereby the delays and expense incident to the u -keeping of old forms of feeders may be liirgely obviated. To this end is provided a feeder adapted to move in a substantially straight vertical line `and to be operated by a dropping or falling action, said feeder being provided with suitable prongs for distributing the produce evenly, rather than to wad it toward one corner of the receiving chamber as has been the custom with prior feeders. These prior feeders are usually pivoted at one side of the receiving chamber and operated with a swinging motion.

Another object .is to avoid the plugging of the pressing plunger as the same enters the ,pressing chamber. This plugging was .caused largely by the uneven manner 1n which prior pivotally mounted feeders fed the hay into the receiving chamber Yand-also by the fact that feeders of this construction failed to force the hay deep ydown toward i the bottom of the receiving chamber. Both of these causes tend to raise and wadk the hay over the upper edge of the pressing .plunger as the same sweeps through the receiving chamber, yand this projecting wad becomin subsequently trappned between the lowere ge of the pressing c amber and the upper edge of the (pressing plunger would plug and bind sai plunger, so that the hardest efforts of the power means, used for the.l press, were insuiiicient to operatin r from either a Vance or retract 'the plun e this plugged position. The possi ility of uniformly across the receiving chamber and forces it deep down into the same.

Another object is to save the time lost in prior forms of presses when the spacing block was slipiped between successive bales, and to this en is provided novel guiding or receiving means for said block, from which the latter is carried into position at the entrance of the pressing chamber without the interruption of the pressing operation.

Anotherobjecu is to connect. the feeder with the pressing plunger directly, in such manner, that these e ements .usually cooperate to counterbalance each other. weight of the descending feeder may be utilized in such a system to effect the rapid retraction of the plunger.

Other objects may appear in consideration of the 'appended detailed description, or by The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention. y

Figure .1 is a fragmental side view of t-he press embracing my invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan section on line m2, Fig. 1, but shows only a fragment of the press. Certain parts have been broken away so as to display other parts. Fig. 3 is an end View of the press taken from the right in Fig. 1 and is drawn to the same scale as Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is :in enlarged fragmental sectional elevation of the press, and is taken on broken line .eL-m4. Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmental transverse sectional view of the press and is taken on line c25-m5, Figs. 1, 2 and 4. Fig. 6 is an enlarged transverse section along line m6-m", Fig. 1, and' shows the pivotally mounted guiding means for the block de tachedl from the press. Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic sectional elevation through a portion of the press and shows pressed hay in the pressing chamber.

In the' press shown in the figures, a member is formed in any suitable manner so as to have a substantially rectangular receiving chamber 1, Fig. 7, and a pressing chamber 2, the latter being practically a continuation of the former, and therefore has its entrance at one side of the receiving vchamber. This member is formed with two opposite side walls 3 and 4, Figs. `1, 2 and 5, with a bottom 5 and with a top 6 having a The lfeed hole 7 Fig.` 7 .Movable pressin means, including the usual plunger 8 an rod 9, and operated by mechanismv well-knownI to the art and therefore omitted from the gures, is adapted to sweep back and `forth through the receiving chamber 1 and a short.

cate with'the same. It will be understood, of

course, that while the press is in operation the lunger is made to reciprocate constantly be- .tweenits initial or retracted position, shown full in Fig. 7 and its extended or final osition, shown dotted-in the same figure. Y ile said plunger is moving from its initial to its final position it sweeps the hay, previously fed into receivingchamber 1, through same and into the pressing 'chamber 2 where it presses it against the hay already compressed therein. It is well known that the rear of the pressing chamber is openfto .the ordinary tail guides 12, Fig. '1, and that as the pressingoperation continues tlfe'hay is orced outwardfrom pressing chamber 2 onto tail guides 12 where the bale wire may be bound around the bale.-

lthe retracting apron and to vceiving chamber,

-Usually the tail guides are sufficiently long to hold several bales, and these are moved outward along the tail guides by each compression stroke of .the plunger, it being noticed that the said bales constitute both the blocking wall and the blockingl forces against which the plunger compresses the new charge of hay. Asthe plunger reaches itsI extended dotted osition, Fig. 7,'the apronor pan 11 lies viimediately beneath the fe'ed hole 7 and substan` At this period of the' tially seals the same. cycle an attendant or laborer pitches the new charge of hay throughopening 7 -onto apron 11. As the plunger and apron are then retracted toward their initial and full positions, Fig. 7 ,.the edge of the top plate 6, which forms the forward extremity of feed hole 7 encounters and repels the-hay off apron 11, so as to slide the charge of hay 0E leave 'it spread over the feed hole 7. Were it 'not for the binding and spreading properties of long hay the charge might fall freely through the feed opening onto the bottom of the rebut ordinarily some feeding operation is necessary, novel form of feeding mechanism' willnow be described.

The feedingmechanism, embraced in `this invention, essentially comprises a feeder or.

feeder head 13 adapted to operate .and to i pass into thereceivng chamber 1 with a to the feedhole is mounted on the upperface of the rectan-l gular plunger 8' and is adaptedfto recipro-v through an aperture 26,

and an eflicient dropping or falling action, and. its lower portion 1s provided with'suitably positioned prongs, so that the charge of hay is carried througl 4feed hole 7 and is evenly distributed on the bottom plate 5 of receiving chamber 1. The body of the feeder or feeder head.

is built with two sets-of similarly formed stays 14 and'15 placed one above the other, Fig..1,'and each set comprises two separate stays located, as shown in Fig. 2, on opposite sides of said feeder body. Rigidly secured between said stays-are the transversely extendinguprights 16 and 17, Figs. 1, 2 and 4, and to the lower extremity of said uprights are secured the serrated end prongs 18 and 19. Between the transverse uprights 16 and 17 is securelyattached the central cross piece or upright 20, and on either sidel of the lower extremity of said cross'piece'are-securely-attached two serrated cross-prongs 21 and 22,

' best shown Vin Fig. 5. lWhen prongs are disposed as above on a linearly operating feeder it is obvious that the charge of hay will be carried through the feed hole 7 and will be .evenly distributed on the bottom lplate 5 of said receiving chamber. s

Any suitable means, preferably including a cable 23 anda bell crank 24, is used to connect the feeder with plunger 8 of the vpressing means, ted from said pressing means to the,` feeder for operating theilatter from the former; and itwill be noticed 'that the cable and bell crank cooperate in such manner that a given motion of' the pressing means produces a greater or magnifi'ed'motion of the feeder.

so that ,motionv may be transrnitloo vThe cable 23'is connected tofeederv 13 by means of a looped connection 25 passing Fig. 4, inthe rigidly attached cross piece 27 ofthe feeder.. -Directly above the center of the feeder is located a pulley 28, and afterl passingover same the cable 23 is rigidly attached at 29to the extremity of the longer leg 30 of bell crank 24. From this pointI the connection to the pressing means may be continued in various ways, vbut theipreferable constructionindicated in the vfigures shows cable23 continued from connection 29' and passing loosely yover a cylindrical `rod 31 at'the ex'-4 tremity of the shorter lleg 32 of the bell' crank- 24; it being understood that the cable isnot xedly attached to rod ,31. `From this rod lthe cable passes pullf and i-s connectedl by plate 34- and bolt '35, Fig. 2, to pressing plunger 8 and ilov beneath the guidek izo apron 11. The bell crank 24, ofcourse', may 1 be designed'and constructed in any` suitable manner and is pivotally mounted in bearings 36; while the pulley'33 issupportedlna bracket 37 spanning-sideplates 3 and 4 4of the receiving chamber, and being securely attached and supportedon same by means of "rivets 38, Fig. 1.l

In Fig. 1 plunger 8 is shown at itsextreme retracted position, so that the feeder correspondingly has -its lowest extreme feeding position. As the pressing plunger passes forward through the receiving chamber 1 to sweep thc hay from same into the pressing chamber Q, the cable 23 will operate to obviously raise feeder 13 out of the receiving chamber, there being sufficient clearance between the plunger head and prong 19 of the feeder to permit the removal of the latterl plunger are withdrawn with great rapidity.

the feeder will fall almost in a substantially free manner from pulley 28 into receiving chamber 1 and will feed the charge of hay through feed hole 7 to the bottom of the receiving chamber.

In order to accurately guide the feeder suitable guiding means, including the four angle iron tracks 39, are provided. The upper stays 14 of the feeder 13 carry suitable guide rollers 40 running in guide tracks 39, but the lower stays 15 need not necessarily be provided with such guide rollers. The lower portion of guide tracks 39 pass along side plates 3 and 4 of the receiving chamber, and are securely attached thereto by bolts or other suitable means 41, Fig. 1. Between each of these angle-iron guides and side plates 3 or Ll, and rising to a height substantiallyflush with the upper edge of said side plates, are the square hollow pipe sections l2, one of which :is displayed fully in Figs. 2, 4 and 5. In each of these pipe sections 42 is seated a bolt 43 and resilient cushion spring 44 normally adapted to extend beyond and out of the upper portion of said sections. With the construction just described, the extremities of stays 15 are seen to be in alinein'ent with springs 44, so that the latter Contact with the former for cush ioning and gradually arrest-ing the motion of the feeder near the end of its drop, and by this cushioning all shocks to the feeder and press body are avoided. l

An important feature in the. mechanism hereinbefore described is the balancing or counterbalancing relation which exists between the direct-ly connected feeder 4and plunger. By considering the relations between the short horizontal bell crank leg 32, the long upright leg 30, and cable 23, it is clear that these parts coperate to raise the feeder' 1most rapidly at the beginning of its ascent, Fig. 1, and therefore that the maximum consequent strain or resistance will be transmitted to the plunger while this ele- Iuent is starting forward from its retracted position, Fig. l. At this early portion of the. plunger stroke, the same sutl'crs no appreciable resistance from the loose hay in the receiving chamber, so that it is then casil y able to supply the increased power de mand of the rap1dly rising feeder. As the plunger', however, approaches the pressing chamber, and its effort is required chiefly to press the hay, the cable and bell crank legs assume such position and relation that the feeder is only rising slowly toward the upper portion of its stroke. Very .little power, therefore, is required to operate the latter at the time pressing plunger S is subject to its severe pressing action.

In addition to securing the foregoing desirable distribution of power required from the plunger at various portions ofthe stroke', the bell crank arrangement, whereby the feeder is rapidly elevated at the beginning of its ascent, has the following valuable fea ture: `As the plungeradvances into the re-` ceiving chamber and apron 11 passes beneath the feed hole 7, the operator commences immediately to load the new charge of hay upon the advancing apron 11. Quick action from the operator is necessary in order that the hourly pressing capacity may be reasonably high. By the aforesaid rapid initial ascent of the feeder, therefore, this element speedily withdraws itself and makes it possible for the operator to load his hay onto apron 11 from the start. Obviously if feeder 13 ascended with a sluggish move ment, the operator would be hampered in loading the apron, and the consequent lost capacity would be undesirable. After the plunger has pressed the charge of hay to itsfull extent, and the feeder has been raised to its upper limit, the potential energy used in the raised feeder may bc adequately used for rapidly retracting the plunger to its initial position, Fig. 1. Sometimes separate mechanism requiring separate applications of power have been used to voperate the plunger and the feeder, but by the counterbalanced relation and cooperation of these elements as connected and assembled in this invention, the operation of the one serves to retract the other, and vice versa.

The alternate storing of energy in the feeder, with the subsequent dispersion of same to effect the retraction of the plunger, is another valuable feature of this invention.

In operating the press, as previously described, the hay is continually forced by thc plunger into and through pressin chamber 2 against the resistance of the ba es. which are thereby being slid along rear portion 12. After a sufficient amount of hay has been forced into and through pressing chamber 2,

a block, usually of wood and formed to pass nicely into said pressing chamber, is Vinserted intol the receiving chamber and* is ultimately forced along by the continued operation ot' the plunger. Such a. block is inserted between each bale, and, in addition to'separating the bales ll'rom each other, affords considerable assistance to an operator in binding the wire around the bale while same is moving along the rear portion 12, l

Considerable )and avoidable delay has always been experienced when ythe spacing blocks were inserted into prior forms ot' presses, and .the'reasons for this delay will now bev explained. I j

More or less clearance 10. is usually al lowe'd-between plunger 8 and top plate 6 of pressing chamber Because of the uneven and ineliicient distribution of hay as fed into the receiving chamber by the prior forms of pivo-tally mounted feeders, -there has always been a marked tendency for long hay to i creep over the upper face of plunger 8 while said hay was being swept through the re` ceiving chamber. iThe clearance 10 aforesaid was practically necessary. in order to minimize thetendency of this projecting to plug the plunger by packing and clog ng between the `top plate 1 6 of the'y pres ing chamber and the upper face of the plun erv8. Despite the clearance, however, the pl ger was frequently plugged to the d etI'i nt of the press but even during the smooth operation of the plunger ai long hard fsheath of hay 45, Fig. 7, popularly termed a tail, was

usually left projecting into the ,receiving` chamber' from the upper portion ofthe pressing chamber.l lVVhen-.the time for inserting the block camel the operator did not. supply av charge of .hay onto apron 11, and instead used his fork't'o turn downthe hard tail 45 against t-he body of hay.l already pressed into chamber Q.' .The plunger then .advanced a through the empty reeeivinwcha'mber and .operated to force the hard tail into the body of the prospective bale. 'The operator failed' to supply Ithe next charge of hay also onto4 apron ll, and instead dropped' ythe block lloosely `into receiving chamber 1 at the entrance of the pressing' chamber 2. lZVhen the plunger again advanced through the .empty receiving chamber it served Vto force the vblock against the hay i'n chamber 2 and to move same through said lchamber a short.

distance' -From this it will be seen that 'two' plunger strokes or two chargeswere missed each time a block was inserted,"and it requiring approximately ten plunger strokes to produce a bale, the foregoing operation obviously resulted in a loss usually equal to one-lifth of the total press capacity. By the provision Vci". novel mechanism now` to.' be de# scr-1l; ed, and including means for receiving and guiding said block, and means for forc-` ing the block from same into a positionat the entrance of said pressin chamber, the aforesaid lost capacity may `e conserved to the press. v'

Approximately above the entrance to .the

pressing chamber is pivotally mounted the element 46 having a. back portion 47, side port-ions 48 and front portions 49, the latter being spaced apart so as vto leave an opening 50, Fig. 2; and said element adapted to receive and guidekthe usualA bale block 51,

which in Figs. 1, 2, 6 and 7 is shown posiv tioned within said element. To the back pol-'tion 47 are secured two standards 52, Fig. Q. and these cari-j the pivot pin 53 extending 'between' and beyond the same. At a suitable location on, the rear *guide tracks 39 are mounted the bearing brackets 54, Fig. 2, adapted to receive pivot piu 53 and thereby pivotally support the element 46. In order that the block 51 may/be forced Vthrough these guiding means into its positionat. the entrn'ce of vthe pressing chamber, .the bot- `tom of said guiding means isleft open and uncovered; and to prevent the block 51`from normally falling through same two. friction springs 55, Fig. .6, are attached to the sides 48, vand are adapted to bear against and frictionallyA restrain the :block .51. -T'he feeder isformed with a projecting lug 56 in alinementwith opening orslit 50. in ele 51 -while in the guiding means for the .purpose of carrying it downward into yposition at the pressing chamber entrance.

Vith the even and .efficient distributionof the charge -uponthereceiving chamber bot- .95l ment 46, and `adapted to contact with block tom, as secured by use of this invention, the j probability of plugging is practically ellmi` nated, but it is ound ,preferable nevertheless to provide clearance 10 between the lupper face ozlil the plunger and the top face 61of the pressing .chamber as in presses ot' prior construction. `On account ot' the ef- Ltcientfeeding'however, the tail'.45, which extends through'this clearance,l is reduced toa Normally element 46 lies in a horizontal position .and'when the time for insert-ing` a 'block arrives, rthe same is put `into position within the receiving or ,guiding means 46, which meansiis then pivotall-y swung into its vertical position. On' the next drop of the feedemilug 56.915 same will contact With A,block 51,21nd will carry it downward against tail 45- .and into position .at the pressing chamber entrance. -With a block thus mech'anicallj7 .inserted into the receiving chamber the tail may be torced into the'balebody without utilizingaseparate plunger stroke; and in operati-nga press having the foregoing vprovisions a charge is .supplied to lapron 11 oneach stroke of the plunger, so that.

plunger 8, on its nextvstroke through the receiving. chamber, encountersa full charge `of hay and compresses it at the same time that it urges block 51 into the pressing chamber. With this operation therefore the block is inserted without the loss of a single plunger stroke, and the aforesaid wasted pressing capacity is obviously avoided. It is understood, of course, that the block need not be driven into 'position by the joint operation of feeder 13, but may be propelled by any other suitable mechanism without departing from the broad spirit of the invention. Also the member wherein the receiving chamber 1 and pressing chamber 2 are formed may be of one or more parts and of various constructions not limited to the particular diagrammatic form hereinbefore described.

From the foregoing detailed description it is believed that the construction and mode of operation lof the novel mechanism for presses, embraced in this invention, will be clear.

I claim: A, l. In a press of the character described, a member formed with a receiving chamber and a pressing chamber, pressing means,

adapted to sweep through said receiving chamber, a feeder adapted to sweep into said receiving chamberl along a substantially straight vertical line, a cable for transmitting motion from said movable pressing means to said feeder, and a lever means for causing said cable to impart a motion to the :feeder which is greater than the motion of the pressing means. t

Q. In a press of the character described, 'a member formed with a receiving chamber and a pressing chamber, movable pressing means adapted to sweep through the receiving chamber, a feeder adapted to sweep into said receiving chamber along a substantially straight vertical-line, means constantly and operatively connecting said pressing means with said feeder, said means including a cable, and a bell crank for transmitting motion from said pressing means to said feeder 1n such manner that a given motlon impartmeans with said feeder, a be l crank having Y a long upstanding leg and a short lower leg, said bell crank coperating with sald cable. 'l. In a press of the character described, a

member formed with a receiving chamberand a pressing chamber, pressing means adapted to sweep through said receiving chamber, afeeder adapted to swee into said receiving chamber along a substantially straight vertical line, a cable connecting said pressing means with said feeder, a pivotally mounted bell crank coperating with said cable, said bell crank having a long upstanding leg above and a short leg below, said cable being firmly attached to said long upstanding bell crank leg.

5. Ina press of the character described, a member formed with a receiving chamber and a pressing chamber, pressing means adapted to sweep' through said receiving chamber, a feeder adapted to sweeg into sai'd receiving chamber along a su stanti-ally straight vertical line, a pulley located above said feeder, a pivotally mounted bell crank, said bell crank having a long upstanding leg above and a short leg below, and a cable connecting said presslng means with said feeder, said cable being firmly attached to said long upstanding bell crank leg; and said cable also passing over said pulley.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles, California, this 13th day of January19l3.

- 4 FRASURE E. GROOVER.

In presencev of- JAMES R. TowNsEND, f ROBERT P; S'rnrs.

produces a greater Copier of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patenti.

Waahingtom D. c. 

